Doubt - No 59

Magazine Overview

This issue of DOUBT, the Fortean Society Magazine, Volume III, Whole Number 59, is dated 1931 A.D. and edited by Tiffany Thayer. The cover price is 35c in the USA and 2/- in Great Britain. The North Jersey U.F.O. Group is listed with a post office box in Morristown, New Jersey.

Subscription and Membership Information

The magazine provides contact addresses for membership and subscriptions, including for England (Eric Frank Russell) and Italy (Prince Boris de Rachewiltz). It notes that DOUBT is available in principal cities worldwide and in many public libraries and universities. An order form for the Fortean 13-Month Calendar at $1.00 is also present.

First Prize: Medical Economics and Cadaver Shortage

The first prize submission highlights an article from Medical Economics (9-1-58) titled 'HOW YOU CAN HELP EASE THE CADAVER SHORTAGE.' The article, attributed to Anatomy Professor Howard H. Hilleman of Oregon State College, suggests that medical professions could easily provide the 5,000 estimated bodies needed annually for study, creating a substantial surplus. MFS Darling comments on the effectiveness of medical students in this regard. Professor Hilleman's plan includes making it a standard prerequisite for medical students to sign away their bodies for study, potentially even by law.

Second Place: Westinghouse and Space Travel

Second place is awarded to Moray for a piece about Westinghouse Research Laboratories in Pittsburgh. Dr. T. C. Tsu is mentioned for proposing travel to Mars and Venus by sail, estimating an 118-day journey to Mars. The article also notes that Dr. Peter A. Castruccio, director of Westinghouse's Astronautic Institute, is studying the possibility of harnessing extrasensory perception for long-distance communication systems.

Miscellaneous Notes and Observations

Several other items are presented:

• Amherst, Mass.: School authorities are investigating a report that English pupils were asked to write a composition on 'How I Would Poison My Family.'
• Kansas: The ladies auxiliary of the Association of Wheat Growers, called 'the Wheathearts,' suggests tossing wheat instead of rice at weddings to address the 'wheat surplus problem.'
• Toledo, Ohio: An exhibit at the Zoo features two lamprey eels that feed on live goldfish by boring through their scales.
• Owensboro, Ky.: A school is described with air-conditioned rooms, acoustical ceilings and walls, and electrical partitions for simultaneous use by boys and girls.
• Hutchinson, Kans.: In a biology class at Central Christian High, a kitten was put to sleep with ether and cut open, with the instructor stating the brain was deactivated and outcries were from muscular contractions.
• Moscow: An educator writing in Pravda condemned proposals for special schools for gifted children, arguing it might lead to missing potentially promising scientists.
• Moscow Radio: Reports a device called a gamma radiometer that can detect oil deposits from the air.
• Oil and Gas Journal: Discusses the theory of a radioactive halo surrounding oil fields, put forward by Hans Lundberg.
• Fort Scott, Kans.: State police are using radar to check vehicle speeds.
• Bomarc Missile Test: An account of a simulated Bomarc missile test where the target was calculated to be moving at 1,000 mph at a height of 48,000 feet.
• Clovis, N.M.: The Air Force Base is keeping alive historical periods with street names like 'Little Boy.'
• Jojima, Japan: Buddhist priests refused to say prayers unless their fees were increased, leading to the closure of a lantern festival.

Further Anomalies and Curiosities

Additional reports include:

• Kansas City and Seattle: Surgeons played a trick on angina patients, with only half receiving actual heart surgery, yet recovery rates were similar, suggesting psychological benefits.
• Cardinal Spellman: A report about plans for transferring Cardinal Spellman to a U.S. Navy ship if he became critically ill, with commentary on the implications for the nation.
• UFO Products: An advertisement for a 'ufo-meter' that claims to produce an audible tone when magnetic deviation occurs.
• Cheyenne, Wyoming: A gravel truck driver ran over a pacifist handing out leaflets, causing serious injury.
• New York and New Jersey: Civil Defense distributing 'radiological defense kits' to high school pupils.
• Boston: Veterans Administration estimates fewer Spanish-American War vets are alive than on the rolls, with a research team examining those who appear younger than their age.
• Jackson, Mich.: Police were baffled by the disappearance of a 20-foot windmill from a farm.
• Nottingham: Men working in a chemical works making a synthetic hormone tablet for women experienced chest pains and developed busts.
• Severn River Board: Reports that salmon returning from the sea colored yellow or red may be suffering from jaundice.

Ice and Other Falls

Reports of unusual precipitation and objects falling from the sky:

• Richmond, Surrey: A block of ice weighing several pounds crashed through a roof.
• Brownsville, Pa.: A hunk of ice weighing about 25 pounds fell on a sidewalk during a storm.
• Madison Township, N.J.: A 70-pound cake of ice crashed through a roof, smashing kitchen chairs. Planes were heard overhead, but airports denied carrying ice.
• Kaurinanui, New Zealand: Hail covered parts of a farm with 4 inches of 'compact ice.'
• St. Julian-sur-Suran, France: Thousands of frogs, mixed with hail, blanketed the countryside, and 82 mountain sheep were skewered by lightning.
• Escanaba, Mich.: A deluge of smelts fell in the road.
• Dallas, Texas: Fish, described as small and dark grey with reddish gold spots, were gathered from the road.
• Missoula, Mont.: A 16-inch trout was found wedged between insulators on a 50-foot pole.
• San Diego, Calif.: A minnow flew into a windshield.
• New York City: A 9-foot shark was found dead in the street, and an 8-foot porpoise was found hanging from a lamppost.
• Perry, Okla.: A striped animal, identified as either a zebra or a referee, was found dead on a highway.
• Central Park, NYC: A bone, identified as a 'common whale rib of recent vintage,' was found.
• Wivenhoe, Essex: 'Space snakes,' also called threadlike grey worms, were found on gardens and paths after a storm.
• Portales, N.M.: 'Gossamer' strands up to 50 feet long were observed, described as fine dust particles held together by static electricity.
• Columbia, Tenn.: A pumpkin fell from a vine 20-25 feet high and broke a car windshield.
• Raynes Park, Surrey: A hollow aluminum ball, attached to a parachute and a burst blue rubber balloon, landed in a garden.
• Pittsburgh: Fine wire, covered with a greasy substance, spread over a 30-foot area, with some pieces buried in the earth.
• South Australia: Dust covered the area to a height of 6,000 feet, damaging plants and causing airport closures.
• Chicago: 'Black dew' discolored buildings, attributed to a severe attack of a series over several years, accompanied by a sulphur-like, bitter-tasting acid gas.
• Tokyo: Yellow dust mixed with smog closed airports.
• Tarbes, France: Red rain attributed to Sahara dust.

Keep Up With India

The issue recommends 'THOUGHT,' a critical weekly published in Delhi, for insights into Indian politics, foreign policy, and cultural and scientific topics. It is available in an air edition for $9.50 for six months or a surface mail subscription for $5.00.

FBI in Nation

It suggests reading 'The Nation' magazine and purchasing 'Cook on the FBI' for 50 cents.

Best of Mitchell

This section compiles various news items:

• California Marine Research Committee: Reported the North Pacific Ocean was getting warmer, with temperatures up 5.5 degrees above the 1949-1956 average.
• Atlantic Beaches: Cold water made bathing miserable during the middle portion of July.
• Pine Bluff (Ark) Arsenal: Military has 26,000 tons of poison gas stored, which cannot be destroyed once produced.
• Battleship Kentucky: Cost $55,000,000 but never went to sea, sold for scrap.
• Putten, Netherlands: A girl named Joke Haanschoten was treated for tonsilitis with a radium needle, resulting in her and parts of her house and garden becoming radioactive.
• Navy Planes: Ordered new single-engine planes costing $9,900,000 each, to be paid for whether they fly or not.
• Submarine Barracuda: Contains a new battery costing $2,500,000, with 28,396 pounds of silver.
• Pensacola Beach, Fla.: Machine gun fire from a Navy plane riddled an unoccupied car, with officers claiming ignorance.
• Valparaiso, Fla.: A 750-pound bomb fell off a plane and buried itself 25 feet deep between two residences.
• Canada: Retired Air Vice Marshall J. L. Plant suggested a curtain of sand across the sky as a defense against intercontinental missiles.
• France: All ham radio licenses were suspended and equipment ordered dismantled.
• Japan: Drs. Sasamu Imoto and Ichiro Masegawa announced that some meteor showers, once periodical, no longer occur.
• Mont Blanc: A statue of the Virgin Mary toppled 3,000 feet into a glacier.
• Dr. Freeman J. Dyson: Does not expect any important innovation in physics within the next 25 years.
• Moscow: The science newspaper 'Meditsinsky Rubotnik' criticized psychoanalysis as a reactionary and pseudo-scientific manifestation of bourgeois ideology.
• British Medical Journal: Lists six persons who fake illness to undergo needless operations.

Nominations 28 FS

Final nominations for Named Fellow of the Fortean Society for the year 28 FS were due by January 26th. Jin Peck was added to previous nominations. The personnel of the 'Phoenix' ketch, involved in an incident with Federal injustice, were also nominated. The award of 'Named Fellow' is usually given to one individual per year, though exceptions have been made. Non-members are eligible. The individual with the largest number of nominations and votes will be Named Fellow.

Other mentioned nominees include:

• A. E. Matthews: British actor who objected to a street lamp post design.
• Cyrus S. Eaton: Nominated for his independence of thought and condemnation of the FBI, and for his Pugwash conferences.
• Marius Larsen: A farmer arrested 131 times for trying to see the attorney general about a complaint.
• Bill Wheal: Complained about by neighbors for his wall, which he defended with armored cars and tanks.
• Raymond Duncan: Brother of Isadora, described as a poet, weaver, artist, and inventor of 'actionalism.'
• Stanley Yankus, Jr.: A devout member of an Amish community in Michigan, who raises grain for his chickens.

Our Losses

The issue notes the passing of several notable individuals:

• William McCarthy: Described as a belligerent old Atheist and a dean of the freethought movement in the USA. He was a member of the Fortean Society and a contributor to secular causes. The Realist magazine is dedicated to him.
• Sir Hubert Wilkins: Described as one of the Society's favorite 'scientific clowns.'
• S. Greiner: Author of 'Prelude to Sanity,' who died some weeks ago.

Where's Whipple???

This section questions the absence of Fred Whipple from public discussion regarding the 'War of the Computers' and Moonwatch teams. It speculates whether he was 'bounced' or 'quit,' and invites a full confession if he has reformed.

Computers and Their Applications

The issue details various applications of computers:

• Mechanical 'memory': Work done by Dr. H. V. Wilkes at Cambridge U.
• ACE (automatic computing engine): Claimed to have a longer 'memory' than ENIAC.
• 'Mercury' computer: Announced by the British, claimed to be 50 times faster than any electronic computer in Western Europe.
• International measuring stick: Work done by Kenneth B. Adams and Dr. Kevin Buras.
• Lincos: Hans Freudenthal wrote a book on a 'cosmic language' of 150 words for interplanetary communication.
• Language translation: Perer Toma loaded a machine with multiple languages to get English output.
• Massachusetts: Purchased a computer as a 'tax detective' to identify potential delinquents.
• Atomic Energy Commission: A 'brain' was used to decide the time of atomic tests, with computations done by hand as a check.
• Military strategy: Electronic brains are being used to fight future wars.
• IBM machine: Used in Hackensack, N.J., to select jury panels.
• British Meteorological Office: Stated that machines can predict tomorrow's weather chart with the same accuracy as conventional methods.
• 'Gatac': A machine used to provide complete electronic simulation of weapon flight.
• 'Lucifer' at Leeds U: Used for solving partial differential equations, expanding bubbles in liquids, and research in X-ray crystallography.
• Gen. Earle E. Partridge: Mentioned radar that could detect incoming vehicles and be linked to computers for interception.
• Wilfred Taylor: Spoke about a 'brain' with a voice that says 'British Association.'
• 'Ernie': Used in London to select winning numbers for premium bonds.
• Blood transfusion: An electronic machine devised to know when a patient needs blood transfusion during surgery.
• Andrews Air Force Base, Md.: Announced an 'altitude' attained in a test cell that accurately simulates conditions expected in flight.
• Dr. Irving P. Krick: Claimed to forecast weather months and years in advance.
• 'Perceptron': Demonstrated by the US Navy, claimed to be the first non-biological system for receiving, recognizing, and identifying surroundings.
• Loch Ness: A radar sweep is being used to solve the mystery of the monster.

Mainstream Applications and Satellite Tracking

The scanning of data begins in August, 27 FS, with Maj. Simons' balloon ascent over Minnesota, debating the value of human observation versus electronic sensing. The issue also touches on the US Navy's use of lighter-than-air craft and the 'Computer warfare' concept. It mentions the 'noise' picked up by amateur radio folk in Yorkshire, claimed to be signals from 'Sput I.' Russian attempts to track the American Explorer satellite are noted, as is Jones' formula for predicting the orbit of Explorer. Dr. Lee A. Du Bridge of Cal Tech expressed disbelief in the military significance of space conquest. The 'success' of Vanguard is attributed to 'Divine Guidance' via a St. Christopher medal. Metal confetti found is identified as Army-dumped material for studying wind velocity. An IBM machine is used for jury selection. The British Meteorological Office claims machines can predict weather charts accurately. The issue concludes by noting that the US does not know with precision the location of Moscow.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

This issue of DOUBT continues the Fortean Society's tradition of exploring anomalies, unexplained phenomena, and the fringes of science and society. There is a strong emphasis on skepticism towards official explanations and a curiosity about the unusual. The editorial stance appears to be one of critical inquiry, often highlighting perceived absurdities in scientific, governmental, and societal practices. The magazine serves as a repository for curious news items and observations that fall outside conventional understanding, encouraging readers to question and investigate. The recurring theme of technological advancement, particularly the burgeoning role of computers, is presented with a mix of awe and caution, questioning their ultimate purpose and potential misuse.

Title: DOUBT
Issue: 43
Volume: 17
Date: Fall-1958
Publisher: The Fortean Society
Country: USA
Language: English

This issue of DOUBT magazine, dated Fall 1958, continues its extensive compilation of historical notes on unexplained phenomena, primarily through the "More Notes of Charles Fort" series. The magazine serves as a repository for anomalous events, drawing from various sources and presented chronologically.

Key Articles and Features

More Notes of Charles Fort

The core of this issue is the continuation of the "More Notes of Charles Fort" series, which transcribes Charles Fort's meticulously collected notes. These notes, dating back to 1800 AD, are presented chronologically, with the current installment focusing on events from the year 1870 and continuing into subsequent years. The notes are drawn from a vast array of sources, including newspapers like the London Times, New York Times, and various scientific journals. The entries detail a wide range of phenomena, including:

• Meteorological and Atmospheric Events: Reports of yellow rain, dust falls in Italy, snow in Sicily, cyclones and floods in Queensland, auroral displays in England and Europe, and unusual atmospheric conditions.
• Geological Events: Earthquakes in various locations, including Peru, Italy, and Mexico, as well as volcanic eruptions in New Zealand.
• Astronomical Observations: Mentions of sunspots, solar halos, and Venus's conjunction with the sun.
• Unexplained Sightings and Incidents: Accounts of strange lights, mysterious objects, abandoned vessels, and unusual animal behavior.

The transcription process is noted as difficult due to Fort's personal shorthand and the need to cross-reference information from separate scraps of paper. The magazine aims to present these notes in a consecutive, chronological order, alternating between records of non-human phenomena and records of persons.

Current Events and Commentary

Interspersed with the historical notes are contemporary observations and commentary, reflecting the magazine's focus on the unusual and unexplained:

• Space Race Developments: The issue touches upon the space race, mentioning the Vanguard satellite and Sputnik. It includes a critical piece from the "Atlantean," a prison periodical, questioning the purpose and function of satellites in an article titled "Why Don't the Satellites Fall Down?" This article is presented as being written by "Authority" rather than an inmate.
• Government and Military Spending: A critique is leveled against the Air Force's expenditure on a lavish two-day salute to electronics companies, highlighting the cost to taxpayers and the selective nature of the public relations tour.
• Unusual Sightings: A brief mention is made of red submarines sighted off the Florida coast, attributed to Dorothy Kilgallen's column.
• Space Broadcast Claim: A report details an alleged event where the USA placed a tape recording of the President's speech in orbit, broadcast from space, though the quality of the recording was poor.
• Scientific Discrepancies: A note highlights differing measurements of the Earth's circumference between Russian and American sources, questioning the exact distance.
• Biological Research: A mention of Carworth Farms breeding 1.5 million mice per year for research purposes, with a boom in the mouse breeding industry.
• UFO Sightings: A series of sightings are reported near Riverside, California, involving objects moving at slow speeds, leading to skepticism from a resident.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

This issue of DOUBT magazine, consistent with its Fortean perspective, continues to explore the boundaries of accepted scientific and historical narratives. The editorial stance appears to be one of open inquiry into phenomena that defy conventional explanation, whether they are historical anomalies documented by Charles Fort or contemporary events related to UFOs, space exploration, and unexplained occurrences. The magazine champions the idea that "the most sensible, practical, workable plan" involves questioning established norms and seeking a deeper understanding of the world's mysteries. The inclusion of advertisements for books by Charles Fort and related publications, such as "America NEEDS Indians" and "The Books of Charles Fort," reinforces the magazine's commitment to promoting Fortean thought and encouraging readers to explore the "unlearning process" of challenging conventional wisdom.